Macbook stuck in loading screen

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My 5 year old macbook has gotten stuck on the loading screen.
It was working fine till it ran out of battery power but when I plugged it in back home, it wouldn't work.
After a restart it just loads the starting screen, I hear the sound, see the apple, see the little spinning wheel and then... nothing.
It just keeps doing that for about 3 minutes and then shuts off.

I've tried the Safe startup, no result.
I've tried "SMC RESET" and "PRAM RESET", but no change.

The Macbook runs on an old OX.
 

chscag

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It the battery charging when you plug it in? If not, you may need to purchase a new battery, charge it up, and then your old MacBook should work unless something else is wrong. I suspect your old battery died and is not charging which is why you can't turn on your MacBook.
 
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It appears to be charging, the light on the plug goes to red and the little indicator lights on the side show all full.
Also without a battery, it still starts up.
 

pigoo3

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My 5 year old macbook has gotten stuck on the loading screen.
It was working fine till it ran out of battery power but when I plugged it in back home, it wouldn't work.
After a restart it just loads the starting screen, I hear the sound, see the apple, see the little spinning wheel and then... nothing.
It just keeps doing that for about 3 minutes and then shuts off.

I've tried the Safe startup, no result.
I've tried "SMC RESET" and "PRAM RESET", but no change.

Try booting the computer from an OS install DVD...then launch Disk Utility and see if your hard drive shows up. It's always possible there's a problem with the HD.

- Nick
 
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Unfortunately I don't have that dvd and my cdrom stopped working years ago.
 

pigoo3

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Unfortunately I don't have that dvd and my cdrom stopped working years ago.

You can also boot from an external HD with an OS installed on it.

- Nick
 

pigoo3

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I could try that, but how would I do that?
Total noob me.

You need an:

- External HD with a compatible Mac OS installed on it.
- Plug the external HD into your MacBook's USB port.
- Push the MacBook power button.
- Press and hold down the Option key as the computer starts up.
- Select the external HD.

Here's an Apple document on the procedure as well:

Starting from an external USB storage device (Intel-based Macs)

- Nick
 
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I've tried it but unfortunately the mac does not show the external hd, the only choice it gives me is the installed hd.
The hd is mac compatible and works fine on the borrowed macbook I'm working on now.
 
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No more advice or tips?
I fear I'll have to take it to the shop then..
 

pigoo3

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No more advice or tips?
I fear I'll have to take it to the shop then..

If you had a working optical drive...we would have more options.

- Nick
 

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